MONTPELIER — Kim Joslin said she’s upset by the treatment her daughters have received from school officials and she believes the Bear Lake School District is very selective in enforcement of its dress code.
Her 13-year-old daughter, Taysha Joslin, an eighth-grader at Bear Lake Middle School, has been called to the office twice since classes started this year and was told that she was in violation of the school’s dress code.
On Monday, Taysha called Kim in tears and said she needed a change of clothes. The Western-style shirt Taysha was wearing had a lace panel across the back and shoulders. While the panel was well above her shoulder blades, school officials said her bra straps could be visible, which violated the school dress code.
“It was a very conservative shirt,” Kim said. “I told the school that her bra strap was not visible and (Principal Steve Heeders) said, ‘But it could have been.’”
The family lives about 30 minutes outside of Montpelier and Kim said Taysha sat in the office and waited for 45 minutes, and she was embarrassed by the entire incident.
“They are at an age where they are very self-conscious anyway,” Kim said. “She was just mortified.”
Following the incident, another mother in the Bear Lake district sent Kim a photo of her own daughter’s ensemble the same day that Taysha was asked to change. That mother's daughter had violated the dress code, but the girl was not reprimanded or asked to change.
“She was wearing a shirt that exposed her bra straps in the back and nothing was said about it,” Kim said.
Kim is the mother of eight and she said six of her children have gone to school in the Bear Lake district.
Taysha’s younger sister, T’Kota Joslin, is 11 and she also attends the middle school.
The 11-year-old curled her waist-length hair for school and a little girl seated behind her was playing with her curls in class. The teacher told T’Kota that she would have to tuck her hair inside her jacket while she was in class.
“I want to know why they didn’t tell the other girl to keep her hands to herself,” Kim said.
Superintendent Gary Brogan said all students in the district are aware of the dress code and Taysha violated it.
According to the school’s dress code, student attire impacts teaching and learning and can either promote a more effective educational environment, or disrupt the educational climate and process.
According to the dress code, skirts, dresses, or shorts, when worn alone or with nylons, must have hemlines no higher than 2 inches above the knee. Leggings or similar tight clothing may not be worn by themselves, and when worn, the buttocks must be completely covered, even when sitting.
Clothing that exposes a student’s midriff, shoulders, cleavage, including low cut necklines or excessive back are unacceptable. Cap sleeves are acceptable, but spaghetti straps, strapless tops and halter tops are not allowed.
Any clothing that is see-through and reveals underwear or skin where underwear is typically worn is unacceptable.
This includes holes in clothing above the knee cap that reveal skin, even if clothing is purchased with the holes.
Kim said her daughter dresses modestly, but the first time Taysha was asked to change her clothes she was wearing a thigh-length dress with a camisole under it. There was no cleavage exposed, she said.
“The teacher asked her if she liked showing her chest,” Kim said. “She wasn’t showing her chest. Taysha was embarrassed and upset.”
Shelley Allen said dress code violations in District 25 are usually handled in the school, but she said violations are uncommon.
“Maybe we're more liberal than Bear Lake,” Allen said.
In American Falls, Superintendent Ron Bolinger said the school provides generic T-shirts to students that are not in compliance with the dress code.
“The students all know what the dress code is and for the most part, they follow it,” Bolinger said.
North Gem School District Superintendent Curry Donaldson said violations of the school's dress code are uncommon. The policy is basically that attire cannot be disruptive.
If a North Gem student's clothing is inappropriate, school T-shirts are made available or the parents may be called.
(25) comments
Of course u don't believe it bc it goes against everything many in this town pass off to true. I was there , I saw her , I was shocked and I pointed it out to others. There are lots of things that go on in the high schools that would shock a few. You need to pay a little more attentiin.
This is my last comment on this page. I won't feed the fire anymore. I will let it smother itself out as there won't be anything more for it to burn.
I remember picking my kids up at high school before they drove and watching the kids walk across from seminary. One particular girl , I knew the family , had on thigh high glossy leather boots , a very short skirt w fish net stockings. That was not appropriate for any school only the red light district. Why was that allowed and at seminary as well ? Oh that's right her family owned a business and were big financial supporters of the school. Several posters here are correct, this poor girl must not belong to the right family.
No thanks---Are you trying to be an agitator? It's seems like you are. You seem to be good at it. You don't know when to stop, do you? You just keep on rambling off again and again and again. I bet you don't know how to keep quiet.
I don't believe what you said in your last comment about the one particular girl. I think its fictitious. I think it's a means of you trying to insert religion and blame religion. Because if it wasn't, than you would not have added seminary into the picture. You would have focused squarely on the what the girl wore while at school in relation to the dress code.
I am sorry but everything to do with Bear Lake has to do with what family and religion you belong to by how you are judged..
Nothing I said was hypothetical . I took a very active roll in my kids education . I viewed my kids teachers as my employees. My tax dollars pay their salary and their actions, teaching style and student commitment I reviewed on a reg basis. I hand picked every teacher , the ones that demanded the most from their students, and in high school if a weak teacher taught one of the classes my kids scheduled I drove them between schools for a more qualified teacher. I believe school superintendents should be voted on like the mayor of a city not appointed by a board. I also believe those that serve as administrators , teachers and any other school employee need to reminded that their church beliefs should remain outside of the classroom. This young woman was a victim of overreach by a district of prudes and I hope she will go over the districts head if it is not rectified at the local level.
No thanks. Your situations are hypothetical. What I would do or wouldn't do would depend in part with the circumstances, facts, and relevant information and research. I don't make decisions lightly without having all the information possible and relevant to the decision. Certainly, if I didn't agree with a decision, I wouldn't seek to turn my disagreement into a very public matter.
I agree that a student dress code isn't a municipal, state, or federal law. Nevertheless, it is a policy that is applicable to students.
I believe the current revised dress code policy was not revised arbitrarily and without input. I believe the student council submitted a proposal. I believe other stakeholders gave input to help shape and craft it to what it is today. And guess what? I think the change occurred without a single parent going to the media to discuss their disapproval of the dress code, at least to the extent that one parent has.
I think with the school dress policy, it is clear. Have your read it? It's is online. I believe a copy of it is also in the students handbooks.
You state: Many women look at the men in their lives as the authority figures, still don't understand that, and we see lately in the news how well that works out.
The opposite can also be true.
Progress, equality, individualism, sexuality, bra straps... is there anything the religious conservatives don't fear? We must remember, 'tis not the bra strap of a woman that makes her great, but rather what's underneath that counts.
I knew u would avoid my statement . My kids graduated w highest honors and were leaders at their high schools and universities. I never condoned breaking laws. This situation w the dress code isn't a law. I hope this young woman's mother encourages her to question this code. Many women look at the men in their lives as the authority figures, still don't understand that, and we see lately in the news how well that works out.
So i guess it would be ok w u if books were banned or sex Ed was taught at the elementary level or your school was chosen to receive a vaccine not approved yet by the FDA bc u would never question authority and those in charge always know what's best for u and your family.
I chose to teach my children to always question authority when they feel something is not right.Those in charge are not always the best ones to be making the rules. You are not raising good citizens , u are raising potential victims. Well behaved women seldom make history. Words to live by.
I know plenty of people who are law-abiding citizens. They are not victims or potential victims. But are successful and have done very well in the their lives. They are also well respected by their peers and people come to them for advice and inspiration.
No thank. I believe teaching children to comply (or in your words conform) to rules and laws is important. It makes them to learn to be law-abiding citizens and to be good citizens and neighbors. I don't advocate breaking rules or laws.
You need to rethink your ideas. A man deciding what a young girl can or can not do is not a man.
Truth seeker, in other words no matter how extreme something is sit down and shut your mouth and be a conformist . Yeah that's exactly what u want to teach a young lady to do.
Simple solution: Go bra-less. No bra straps to offend anyone.
Simple solution: Comply with the dress code.
Yes that is it!
If the school board wants to nitpick to this degree; require uniforms. I would love it; everyone dressed the same style and colors would reduce bullying and squash crud like this. I can't imagine how bad those little girls felt being shamed for something so trivial. If you give a child the impression they aren't liked; they either rebel or give up. Shame on Bear Lake School District.
Earlier in the month, KPVI reported on the same story at http://tinyurl.com/mt8brpx. Read the comments from KPVI's website, especially those from 'oldyeller'. Start from the earliest comment on 09/04. They are quite interesting. Those comments add more volume and depth to the discussion and question why many details were not included by Kim. In KPVI's reporting, it didn't make comparisons to others schools' dress code policies nor did it talk about selective enforcement. That was later added in ISJ's reporting.
Unfortunately for this family they are a minority in a very closed minded area. It would be very difficult to find enough people on their side to invoke change. If they feel their daughters civil liberties have been threatened , I suggest they seek help from an outside organization .
I think there are several issues that the district needs to address, the parents as well.
1. The dress code: There are double standards and hypocrisy in what is expected from the students in their every day wear vs. the uniforms the athletes and cheerleaders are allowed to wear. Cheer skirts are tight and shorter than that of dress code. Volleyball girls wear those tight and short shorts. It is not necessary to have short tight shorts for volleyball, this has not always been this way. If the parents don't like it they need to band together to try to force changes, it can be done.
2. I for one, would rather have a more strict policy, and parents and students should follow it but most importantly the administration has to be consistent and not show favoritism or target the students. If Taysha is getting in trouble for wearing a blouse that would expose where an undergarment should be, then the other student whose mother said was similar should be in trouble also.
3. Why punish T'kota for having beautiful curly locks, who is obviously taking pride in her appearance and wants to look pretty, rather than teaching the other student to keep his or her hands to herself.
I want to give kudos to the Idaho State Journal for covering more of this story than the tv news station did. ISJ reported the events WITHOUT slanting the information like the tv news station did.
Keep fighting the good fight Kim!
The kids just belong to the wrong family and are not part of the clicks in the area's, and the family are probably not part of the in crowd at church, school, or town. the school officials are being prejudice against those who they deem unworthy, and not those who belong.
I lived this in my childhood, its everywhere, and as for the church people they mostly are only that on SUNDAY>
Time for the parents to stand up and fight for their kids . If this ultra extreme Christian view is allowed to infiltrate the schools further, puritain attire can't be far off. Keep religion out of the schools.
I grew up in Montpelier and graduated from Bear Lake High School. I am disturbed by the actions of the teachers and school board. I have seen the pictures of the clothing and found nothing wrong. I have to wonder about the adults that find the clothing inappropriate. Any clothing has the ability of showing underwear. Is anything done about boys wearing baggy pants and showing their boxers? I am ashamed to admit I am from that area because of the bias and apparently the inability to deal with the idea bra straps do show from time to time. Yes I do come from a long line of Mormons. Straight back to Joseph Smith. Get a grip Bear Lake and stop your biased bull.
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